Coronavirus company news summary – Sibanye-Stillwater reports outbreak – Axora launch smart mining platform – South Africa to lift restrictions on miners
by Matthew Hall
29 May
Sibanye-Stillwater has reported 51 positive Covid-19 cases at its Thembelani shaft located in Rustenburg. The company tested employees at the shaft after two of them tested positive for the virus last week. It implemented contact tracing protocols and tested and quarantined a number of associated employees. A total of 120 employees were tested following which 51 of them were confirmed positive. The employees have been counselled and moved to isolation.
Axora has launched an online Smart Mining resource centre to help companies rebound from, and thrive after, the Covid-19 pandemic. With the new centre, companies will get the latest industry insights and access to digital solutions and technologies which they can adopt to accelerate their business growth. Axora chief commercial officer Dr Nick Mayhew said that the downtime caused by Covid-19 offers mining companies an opportunity to improve their digital solutions and accelerate their digital transformation roadmaps.
Endeavour Silver has restarted mining operations at its three underground silver-gold mines in Mexico after securing approvals from the Secretariat of Health in the country. The approvals come after the company filed its mine operating and health plans which were developed using the virus monitoring, prevention and response measures already in place at the mines. All employees and contractors who report for duty will undergo medical screening to verify that no one with the virus symptoms or who has had contact with anyone exhibiting symptoms gets on site. Additionally, Covid-19 test kits are available if the company’s doctors recommend testing of employees.
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The South African government is set to allow most economic sectors including mining and manufacturing to fully restart operations beginning next month as it further eases its lockdown regulations. The mining industry in the country has recorded 320 Covid-19 cases so far and is expected to return to full capacity. Mines across the country were forced to close temporarily when the lockdown started.
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